


Work In Progress

by Mysterie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Multi, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Swearing, Tags change as needed, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-02-10 13:37:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12913035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterie/pseuds/Mysterie
Summary: You're a normal person... or what passes for normal. You have a part-time job and a boyfriend. You love video games and you're a serious Undertale fan. You aren't a social butterfly like your job makes you be just for the sake of it. You'd rather just stay at home. So you do, on your days off anyway. Then something happens you don't expect and suddenly you're wondering if you're really the person you thought you always were because something isn't right with your soul and that's just the start of your new-found problems.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Glitch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12726867) by [LazyRainDancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyRainDancer/pseuds/LazyRainDancer). 



> Life isn't boring, but it isn't exactly exciting either. Until tonight.

There is a distant sound of an engine that pierces the morning's darkness, but you don't pay it any attention as you dutifully stare at the words in front of you.

 

**Note:** Text entered in the posting form is  **not** automatically saved. Always keep a backup copy of your work. 

 

Right. You were winging this. You had no idea really where this story was supposed to be going. You hadn't planned it out. You'd just been inspired to write. This was usually how you got your most brilliant of ideas is that you sat down and just started writing or read something or saw a piece of artwork that just seemed to scream at you. That was how you operated. Well, at least when it came to writing. Others had to hunt for inspiration or could find it anywhere, you, on the other hand, just had to wait for it. After years of having a pretty average life, you weren't too unhappy with things. You had a job you had started out loving and still sort of liked. You'd been there two years, that was a milestone seeing as how you were a very picky person and certainly didn't stay at a job you couldn't stand. It was never the work itself, of course, but the people whom you were forced to work with. Could you stand them? Could you at least be civil? Were you treated more like a human being than a replacement for a robot? You didn't really think it was too much to ask to have your co-workers be nice to you. Wasn't that supposed to be a common thing? After all, wasn't that, like, the first lesson in Kindergarden? 

 

If it wasn't, you were pretty sure it should be. You'd always been told the Golden Rule: Treat others how you want to be treated.

 

That meant, as a kid, you played nicely with others by cooperating with them. By sharing toys that you had and taking turns with the things that you were given to play with. To not hurt or cause harm to the toys or things you were given, to not use them to hurt others. It wasn't rocket science, and yet after more than nine years in the work force you were pretty sure about fifty percent of the population seemed to have missed the boat on common sense. About half of that had missed the part where you were supposed to "be nice" to others. You had long ago lost count about how many people you'd seen being disrespectful, rude or just down right mean to those they called "friend" or to other family members. Turns out being a night-time retail clerk was like being a bartender... you got to hear people's life stories while they paid for something. Everything from new babies to deaths... people being disowned by the family, being taken advantage of by said family or even down right hating said family for one reason or another. It was like a roller coaster; and if you were really unlucky, they'd take their troubles out on you, behaving much like a five year old child who lost his favorite toy if you dared to deny them something or if you couldn't help them find something. Not like they'd appreciate the fact that you didn't know where every last little thing was in a store that constantly re-arranged its items every few months with sixteen different aisles, not including the kitchens, bakery, the deli, wine and spirits, produce or the express grill that was in the store as well. 

 

Your flagging memory was more than enough reason why you'd never become a server at a restaurant even when you'd worked at one; you'd been a hostess for a short time. That had been less nerve wrecking and you'd had a lot less to learn so it had been okay. The pay had been terrible though at the time which was why you weren't doing that anymore. No one could live off of four bucks and hour and only work four hour shifts five days a week and even pay rent for a place in modern day and age. Prices were just too high for that; in fact, many families had grown children still living with them because prices were so high that most couldn't simply afford to move out into something as simple as a one bedroom apartment without having someone else help pay for it. College graduate or no, wages simply had not caught up with the inflated prices that had crashed the economy in 2008. That had been, of course, ten years ago. Since then you'd managed to find a job and an apartment with your boyfriend whom you'd known for five years before moving in with him. You'd been together for almost nine now and you wondered if he was ever going to propose or anything. Not that you were in any rush to get married or anything, but you weren't exactly a spring chicken anymore and he was still in his prime years. You, on the other hand, being the older one, were considerably aware of the ticking time bomb that was natural biology. To top it off, you didn't really want kids. You'd been around them so much your entire life thanks to your family in the state you'd come from that the last thing you really wanted was one of your own. Not to mention the expense and with as little responsibility as your boyfriend had shown to have (being too lazy to do even the simplest of chores around the house without you having to ask) meant you were pretty sure that if a kid ever came into the picture the one taking care of the kid would be you; not him. There wouldn't be any sharing of the responsibilities and then you'd have to literally have someone else to clean up and clean up after. No thank you. You were content enough dealing with one overgrown kid. Granted, it was one of the things that had made you love him, but sometimes it was just annoying. He hadn't even done his own laundry when he'd been living with his parents. He didn't wear proper attire for winter most times and said he didn't need to, which just made you roll your eyes really. 

 

The downside to moving to a completely new place had been the lack of snow you'd been looking forward to seeing upon coming from your home town, which had barely gotten any snow. Oh but no such luck there. All the stories of "six foot snow drifts" amounted to being nothing but stories and photographs. Apparently it seemed that whatever "luck" was around you for keeping snow from being a big thing had followed you from home to here. Well wasn't that just peachy? You couldn't even properly enjoy your favorite time of the year without at least a dusting of snow and here it was into the second week of December and there wasn't even proper cold temperatures for it! You were pretty sure you were cursed to have caused this. No one else seemed to care, but you sure as heck were irked. What was Christmas without snow anyway? You remembered times in your childhood where snow was always around Christmas time and sometimes after, but really... who wanted Christmas without snow? It just didn't seem right. Never had. Though the ironic thing was that every year that there had been a failure of snow on Christmas it had snowed right on your birthday. Like there was someone out there who knew you loved it and had been giving it to you on your birthday when it didn't appear on Christmas. It was kinda... weird really, but you figured that was the counter blessing to the curse that kept the snow away now. You stared at the blank screen as your mind wandered. Where was this story supposed to go again? Oh, right... something about how one character was supposed to meet a respected character from a story they'd just read, someone they'd admired. You began to furiously type away and before you knew it you had managed and entire first chapter and grinned happily as you hit the "post without preview" button. You didn't really preview your work and you were happy with the way this had flowed.

 

You'd been a little worried at the beginning, especially with your mind a bit distracted with the whole work/holiday thing, and then there was the lack of snow and oh was that the time? It was 6:12... well that sound outside was likely the school bus having gone by and you knew soon enough that you'd hear the familiar "crowing" that was your boyfriend's alarm clock. You stretch a little and wonder why in the world you've been up even after pulling a night shift... oh right, you didn't work today. That would be it, plus your mind had trouble shutting off and you were fighting off a minor cold bug to boot. Yeah, that was it. Speaking of which, you hadn't taken that medicine to help you sleep yet or your usual pill. You grabbed the pill and popped it into your mouth, took a drink out of a nearby pop bottle that had a still cold bit of pop inside of it to wash the pill down. You then decided you'd head to the bathroom for that medicine so you could actually get some sleep. You picked your way around the couch to the tiny hallway that would lead to the bathroom. It was three steps in front of you, more or less, but as you moved forward you heard a sound. It wasn't the sound you'd been expecting. It wasn't the "crowing" of your boyfriends alarm nor any alarm you remember ever having heard. It was the sound of... wind? That wasn't right. There weren't any windows open and wait... why was it suddenly so dark?!? Pain burst through you, causing you to curl up in reaction even as a soundless scream left you. The pain was so sudden and unexpected, blooming from your chest and through your entire being as if you were a battery that was loosing its energy and you suddenly heard a multitude of voices, too many to make sense of or even begin to comprehend what was being said before a voice seemed to call out above the rest, calling to you.... You felt as if your heart was calling back. Like you knew the one who was calling out your name and at the same time... you didn't recognize who it was. You opened your mouth to call out but felt dizzy and felt your mind slip away into the darkness.

 


	2. Undertale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's cold, but you're not alone.

You sat up with a gasp. Cold! Oh fuck was it cold! Well, of course it was cold, you looked down to see yourself laying in a pile of snow with a forest of tre- Wait. Back the truck up. When the HELL did you get in a forest?! It wasn't this cold back home either! Where were you? You glanced around as you slowly stood up. You faintly remembered some pain, but you didn't remember the why. You sure as heck didn't know the cause of it and someone had called to you.... You shook away the thoughts. Geez... what the heck had been in that pop? You were pretty sure it wasn't alcohol. Still, being the middle-ageish adult you were, it wasn't something that hadn't entered your mind; after all, you'd drank before, you just had never been drunk. You didn't  _feel_ drunk either. You didn't feel sick, like everyone claimed a hangover was like. Plus nothing you'd had the night before, you were sure, had even the slightest bit of alcohol in it. So... well forget that. It was freezing and you needed to get moving! Okay, this definitely was not some dream, you knew your imagination would have given you some warmer clothing than the thin sheet of cotton that was your nightgown and a pair of now-wet snowman socks. Yeah, no, your imagination was a little smarter than that and you were pretty sure the hair on your legs was standing on end about now. You needed to get warm and soon. You began to walk along what looked like a cleared path through the snow that led to a wooden bridge with a strangely large gate over it. This... looked vaguely familiar, where had you seen THIS before? You don't think you should really stop to think about this when the sound of a twig snapping has you spinning around as a baritone voice calls out to you.

"don't you know how to greet a new pal?" You don't recognize the voice, but you know that line, even as you spin you slip and land hard.

"wow buddy. heh. you really  _slipped_ up there." You stare up at the last thing you expected to see. In front of you is a skeleton, he has to be around your five foot, six inches... give or take a few inches. He's wearing a blue hooded jacket, his left gloved hand reaching out in your direction. He also wore black shorts with white stripes along the front. You know instantly who you're looking at.

"you look pretty pale there. you okay?" his normal casual grin seems to slip a little in concern and you realize you're starting to shake.

"C-cold." 

"ah geez, well considering what you're wearing you look pretty  _chilled_ to the bone. why don't we continue this somewhere warmer?" You nod and take his hand. You can't stop the faint smile at the whoopie cushion though you're now too cold to appreciate his humor. You feel something shift, it's more like a light push on your body all at once though you don't notice it because you're mostly numb from the cold. You find yourself in what looks like a shed with bars and a blanket is on a dog bed. Sans wraps you up in the blanket.

"now that you're nice and cozy. let's start with the basics shall we? i'm sans, sans the skeleton."

 

"My name is _____." 

"nice to meet ya.  _tibia_ honest, i wasn't expecting any visitors today." You chuckle a little, puns was one of the reasons you liked the skeleton. Your favorite part of the game had always been the puniful interaction between him and his brother, Papyrus. 

" _Ice_ to meet you too." This brought a chuckle from the skeleton.

"not bad kid."

"I have  _snow_ problem coming up with a few but uh... I'm certainly not good enough to try for your title of pun master." 

"fair enough. so what's are you doing out here dressed like that?" You stare at Sans in silence as you contemplate how much to tell the punny skeleton. You weren't sure how much you could trust him with. The thing about being the fan that you were meant that you knew a good deal about him, but he'd know nothing about you; you knew that while Sans meant well, he wasn't the biggest fan of humans and wasn't really obligated to just help one out for no reason except maybe for the fact that his brother would yell at him if he didn't at least help one who was possibly under threat of dying or at least catching a cold. Sans was a secretive one; he wasn't much for showing his feelings but that didn't mean he didn't have them and while he seemed to try and take the burden of resets onto himself and keep his brother in the dark about certain things it wasn't like he and his brother weren't close. You also didn't know exactly what this Sans had been through. Had he gone through any resets? If so, how many? Had there been a genocide or just neutral runs? What about a pacifist one? There was no doubt that there hadn't at least been a reset, or at least a re-load, at some point. It was just too easy to die right after The Ruins due to the sudden difficulty of monsters in the wooded area.  _If I want Sans to trust me, I need to show him I can be trusted... I have to trust him first._ This was Sans, after all, not one of his counterparts. You weren't sure entirely where to begin.

"Sans, do you know about the multiverse theory?" His pupils seemed to shrink a little but he nodded.

"Would you believe then that I'm not from this universe, that where I'm from there aren't any monsters and there's no such thing as magic?" He seemed to stare, in anyone else you might consider it to be disbelief, but he didn't seem to take it that way, in fact, he seemed more intrigued than anything.

"Well..." You took a deep breath and you began to tell him everything you remembered. You told him about the story you'd been making, how you'd been simply heading to the bathroom before you'd seen a lot of darkness, followed by pain and how you had swore you had heard someone call your name but you didn't know who it was because you recognized it but at the same time you didn't. You also explained that, in your world, Undertale was a game with him in it and you explained briefly how it was about setting monsterkind free. You didn't think he needed to know there was any other path other than the pacifist. You also didn't mention resets. You weren't sure how aware of them he really was because the game hadn't been very forth coming in information regarding any character really, let alone Sans, which was why there were so many theories flying about him in the fandom community. The only one who knew for sure was Toby and he wasn't confirming much of anything. Still, what you did know was that you could trust him to help you out if you could manage to at least be-friend him and gain a little bit of trust. You weren't sure how you were going to do that. You weren't Frisk and you'd be lying through your teeth if you didn't admit, at least to yourself, that you'd done at least one true reset. You weren't the innocent little pacifist Frisk was, but neither were you the genocidal maniac Chara was either. You'd done a true reset, yes, but not because you wanted to know what would happen if you slaughtered everyone. 


	3. Undertale Pt 2

"that's a pretty far-fetched story there kiddo."

"I know, if I wasn't living it myself I'd be inclined to think this was all some sort of strange dream but... here I am talking to a skeleton who only exists in my house as digital data and a plush doll." He snorted a little, apparently the idea of you having a plush doll of him was amusing. The sound of the front door opening interrupted your conversation and of course you already knew who to expect. You had to admit though he was taller in real life than you were expecting, in fact, you were pretty sure he was taller than your boyfriend by at least an inch or two and that was no mean feat since your boyfriend was over six foot. Though, now that you considered it, Sans wasn't exactly what you'd been expecting either then again an 8 bit game didn't really do well in terms of actual scale for characters let alone detail. 

"SANS YOU LAZYBONES! WHY AREN'T YOU AT YOUR PO-" The moment Papyrus' gaze lands on you his words die off.

"IS THAT... A HUMAN? SANS DID YOU CAPTURE A HUMAN ALL BY YOURSELF?! FINALLY!" You aren't sure what to make of this, knowing this definitely was not in the game, but the sheer joy on the other skeleton's face is too priceless. After all, only a  **true** monster could ever think that Papyrus was anything but the cute cinnamon roll he'd been made out to be. Papyrus didn't have it in him to truly hurt a human, even if he did want to capture one; he simply couldn't kill one, and you really didn't want to admit this but you knew that he was really the second toughest monster in the game... at least for you. You'd gotten captured by Papyrus every single time you'd tried to fight him, but not once had you had any trouble with any of the other monsters that came afterwards. Even facing the fully powered Asriel had been a walk in the park compared to dealing with jumping over a few bones... Okay, so platformers on PCs weren't your thing as you'd grown up dealing more with consoles with actual controllers rather than a keyboard, but that hadn't stopped you from finishing the pacifist route more than once. Though honestly the second time around had been because you'd needed some information for a story you had been working on about a year ago. It had been two years since the game had come out now and yet you were still just as deep into the game as you had been since you'd first laid eyes on the game. Still, that hadn't prepared you to be dumped into it! 

"I'M GLAD THAT YOU FINALLY WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE A HUMAN!"

"uh, actually bro, this one is kinda different." 

"DIFFERENT?" You begin to explain to Papyrus what you told Sans about being from a different world and that you didn't belong in this one.

'WELL THEN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" You shrug. 

"i dunno about trustin' her bro." 

"WELL WHY NOT?"

"Well, I guess if you really want to see if I'm lying or not maybe you can try something I read about once." This got both of their attention.

"I read once that you can tell if a person is lying or not by the color of their soul, how it tends to darken in color when they are being deceitful." Sans seemed thoughtful.

"there's truth to that kiddo, but do you wanna do that?"

"I have nothing to hide." You declare boldly.

"okay then." It was a strange sensation. Like nothing you've really ever felt before, a sort of tugging in your chest and to say that the two were speechless when your soul did finally come out was to say the very least. You, of course, were just as speechless, because when you looked yourself out of curiosity you thought you were going to faint from the shock then and there. It was... empty! Oh sure there was a sort of faint black shape where the soul should be, but that was it. There was... nothing else there.

"SANS... WHAT IS THAT? I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT!"

"me either." 

"What does this mean?" Sans shrugged, you felt a pushing sensation and the soul drifted back in.

"Am... am I ... broken?" You knew good and well that there were only seven official colors to the human soul; yellow, red, blue, cyan, purple, orange and green. So what could your soul mean? Why was it like an empty vessel? Even worse, it reminded you of an empty heart container from a video game, like it was just waiting to be filled with... something. You had expected a lot of things, heck you'd even taken several personality quizzes to verify what your soul color should be... but... it wasn't. It wasn't anything. It was like a slap in the face. You didn't feel any different and you weren't emotionless. Sans obviously seemed puzzled over what he had just seen and... was that concern or was that just your imagination? Clearly now though he believed you. Still, what could a soul like that mean and what did it mean for you? 


	4. Glitch?

"What ... what am I supposed to do?! It's not supposed to be empty like that it... it's supposed to be..." You trailed off. It didn't really matter what it was supposed to be did it?

"that's a good question."

"WELL I DON'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT, BESIDES, WON'T THIS WHOLE THING BE SOLVED BY GETTING YOU HOME?" You weren't sure about that and gave voice to your doubts.

"WHY WOULDN'T IT? YOU SAID YOU HADN'T SEEN YOUR SOUL BEFORE YOU GOT HERE SO EVEN IF IT IS THIS ... UNUSUAL THING THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S BAD! I KNOW WHAT WILL CHEER YOU UP! A PLATE OF MY MASTERFULLY COOKED CHEER-UP SPAGHETTI!" You can't help but smile a little.

"That sounds nice." You watch as he disappears into the kitchen. You feel a little bit better but something in you is still troubled. Why would someone like you have such an empty looking soul instead of one that was vibrantly colored? Okay, sure, things weren't perfect for you but your life wasn't all that bad either. You'd seen people who were so much worse off! Heck, you figured your life was only stressful because you worked in retail, you could hear your neighbors arguing through the walls and had the last several months with no real obvious reason why and the icing on that cake was that your boyfriend often became frustrated and cursed at his video games, meaning you really had no place that you could de-stress for more than a few hours at a time and now there was this! Could your life possibly be any more stressful?

 

"WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRINK?" Papyrus calls, you realize Sans is watching you closely.

"Just some water thanks!" You meet his gaze, you weren't scared of him really, even knowing what he could do; that he could vaporize you in a single instant if he thought you posed any sort of threat to his brother.

"I know you don't trust me, but I don't mean any harm, I just want to get back home." You shifted in your seat as you felt this odd sensation wash over you all of the sudden.

"WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRINK?" Papyrus calls, you realize Sans is watching you closely.

"Just some water thanks!" Wait. Hadn't he already asked that? Sans didn't look too pleased, a small frown crossing his features.

"Sans, where is Frisk?" Was that a reset? No, that didn't go very far back; it had to be a reload. So that's what one felt like? You had always wondered what it would be like but feeding your curiosity of such things wasn't at the forefront of your mind.

"they should be in waterfall about now."

"Has this happened often?" He didn't answer, but his expression said 'too often' and it made you wonder if a reload was all he'd had to deal with. Had he gone through a genocide run too? If so... how many times had he watched his brother die? 

"I see." 

"WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRINK?" Papyrus calls.

"Just some water thanks!" You respond automatically.  Another one? That hadn't been a lot of time. Then there's another... and another... this feels very weird and off. Feeling the sensation has suddenly become like feeling someone's heartbeat, except that now you've moved on past answering Papyrus, but only by a margin it seems. You're not sure if that's true or not before they calm down and stop.

"This isn't normal."

"not by a long shot. kid's been at this a while."

"How long is a while?"

"dunno, hard to tell time down here as it is, though if i had to guess i'd say weeks." This made you frown. Weeks?! Something was definitely wrong.

"Sans, if it happens again, will you teleport me to where Frisk is?" 

"why do you want to do that?"

"Maybe something is hindering them and we might be able to help." 

"can't hurt i guess. if it happens again, we'll go." You were just settling back against the couch, thinking that maybe it wouldn't happen again when... yup, there was that feeling. Once it was gone Sans put a hand on you and teleported you both to Waterfall. This was strange, you were at the end of the run of Waterfall and where Hotland began, shouldn't Frisk be here? You ducked behind the station and waited, but Frisk didn't appear and you didn't hear any sounds.

"Maybe they're further back?" You whisper. Sans shrugs but just as you were about to say something else you hear the sound of running feet. It was Frisk alright and you watched them dash forward towards the bridge only to suddenly stop. What was going on? Why did they stop? Then you realized why. A section of the bridge was missing! What?! This didn't make any sense! You were sure that it had been perfectly fine and whole when you'd gotten here, but now, of course, Undyne caught up and simply pushed the kid off the bridge into the lava. You glanced away. What a horrible way to go. You felt everything shift as the reload happened again. 

"that went well." You were back on the couch.

"Sans something is wrong! A section of the bridge was just gone! That's why Frisk stopped! The gap was too wide for them to make it across! It was... like some sort of glitch!"

"a glitch?"

"Yeah, I mean it happens all of the time in games where something goes wrong where it's not supposed to."

"so, what do you suggest? i can't interfere or she'd come after me. can't have her thinking that i was helping the kid."

"We have to do something or these reloads will keep happening!" 

"what do you suggest?" 


	5. Not Exactly a Cure

"We need to go back to that bridge, I need to get a look at it." Sans sighed but nodded and teleported the two of you back to the bridge itself. You ran over to it. What the? The bridge was perfectly fine. 

"thought you said the bridge was missing a section."

"It was! I mean... Frisk didn't just stop on the bridge for no reason. Something is at work here... and... wait, when did that water cooler get there?" 

"huh?"

"That's not supposed to be on the bridge!" Sure enough, the water cooler was sitting in the middle of the bridge.

"huh. well then, that's not right." You nodded and without having to ask, Sans' magic flared to life, picking it up and putting it back where it should be. You frown, thoughtful. Why had the water cooler been on the bridge section that you were sure had vanished the time before? You walk across the bridge, testing it carefully while Sans watches you. It's perfectly sturdy, no loose or broken boards. You make your way back. You're pretty sure that while what you'd seen the first time was a physics impossibility it had also happened. It hadn't been like that before though. Could it only be triggered while Frisk was present?

"i hear 'em coming." You didn't have time to contemplate that as you made a dash for the sentry station and ducked out of sight, though peering past you saw Frisk dart forward. They looked tired, like they'd done this way too many times. You watched for anything usual and suddenly a rock appeared out of nowhere! Frisk jumped the rock, barely in time and Undyne, per usual, stopped to berate Sans who was pretending to be asleep at the station to buy Frisk some time. They seemed a little wary of the bridge but without any other option they dashed across. You felt relief course through you as you saw they made it to the end without a problem. That didn't answer any of the questions that swirled in your head, however. Why was your soul empty? What the heck was that glitch? Was it even a glitch? Why were you here? You watched as the scene played out like it should. Frisk splashed the cup of water on the exhausted Undyne who got up, looked around, at the kid, then backed up a couple of steps before leaving without a single word. Frisk went back to the cooler and got a second cup of water then sat down even as they emptied the contents. You glanced over at Sans, he still seemed to pretend to be asleep. Frisk didn't even bother glancing back as they stood up and continued on their way. You sigh in relief.

"c'mon, we'd better get back before my bro realizes we're gone." You nod and he teleported you back to the house. Now what? You smiled a bit as you saw Papyrus come out with a plate of spaghetti. It didn't look burnt but you wondered how well it was going to taste. 

"Thanks Papyrus."

"OF COURSE! ANYTHING FOR MY NEW FRIEND!" You carefully wind a few strands around it and blow on it a little before taking a bite. It was an odd mix of soft and crunchy, but at least it wasn't burnt, which meant Papyrus wasn't that bad of a cook, but it did have what you'd call an "indescribable" taste to it. Still, it wasn't bad; knowing the various foods cooked in the different AUs, you figured that you could be subjected to worse foods and so you let your hunger take over and down the plateful. You hadn't actually realized how hungry you were until you had eaten the first plate.

"WOWIE! YOU MUST REALLY LIKE THAT! I'VE NEVER SEEN IT VANISH SO FAST!" 

"It was really delicious and I was kinda hungry, but I'm full now. Thanks so much." 

"NYEHEHEH! OF COURSE!" He took the empty plate happily and left the room to put away the dishes, you felt Sans was watching you and when you turned to look at him you could see that he was looking at you as if trying to see if you were lying or not.

"Trying to see into my soul or something? Didn't you already see it?" 

"heh, not really kiddo."

"Do you have any ideas about how to get me home?"

"sorry, but the only thing that might work is the machine. it hasn't worked in years though and i gave up on it."

"What if that's my only way home?" 

"i'll see what i can do, but i don't make any promises. you sure you didn't leave anything out when you told me how you got here?" 

"Positive. There really wasn't anything to see and then there was just this pain and... then there I was." He looked thoughtful but only nodded.

"BROTHER! WHERE IS THE HUMAN GOING TO STAY TONIGHT? THEY COULD HAVE MY ROOM!"

"Oh I couldn't possibly, the couch will be fine if you have an extra pillow and blanket." 

"ARE YOU SURE?" Papyrus came back in looking doubtful.

"i think our guest has this  _covered_ bro."

"SANS! THIS IS NO TIME TO JOKE!"

"no thyme like the present i say."

"NGGGGHHHHH!!!" You, on the other hand, cannot stop laughing. This was one of the reasons you had adored the game so much! The dynamic between the two brothers was just priceless and, though you usually didn't have a punny sense of humor, you did have one and after playing the game puns had definitely become a thing you liked!

"NEVERMIND. ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH?" Papyrus had turned from his brother to you and you nod, though still laughing a bit at the two. 

"I'll be fine here, it's perfectly comfortable." 

" _sofa_ it hasn't let us down." 

"STOP! BEFORE YOU INFECT THE HUMAN!" 

"I don't think his lack of puns will cushion your fall at finding out I like his puns." 

"ACK!!!" Sans chuckles a little, it's a nice sound. You find yourself yawning, what time was it? 

"i'll get the things for ya kiddo. it is kind of late." You nod.

"AN EXCELLENT IDEA BROTHER! WELL, I'M OFF TO BED FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP TOO! GOODNIGHT HUMAN! SANS!"

"Goodnight Papyrus." 

"here." It's only when you turn to Sans that you realize he's already gotten the pillow and blanket for you.

"Thanks."

"no problem." 

"Goodnight Sans."

"goodnight _______." He's gone in an instant and you put the pillow on one side and curl up beneath the blanket, you wonder what it is the next day will bring as you drift off to sleep. Maybe this wasn't real, maybe it was just some dream and you'd fallen asleep in front of your computer. It's not so impossible... is it?


	6. Once More?

You wake up to find that no, this wasn't a dream, you really WERE sleep on a couch that wasn't yours. You heard a commotion in the kitchen only to find Papyrus cooking.

"GOOD MORNING! I MADE BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI!" 

"Thanks." You weren't sure you could live off the stuff, but you take it anyway. It's actually a bit better than you expected it to be. Why did everyone say Papyrus was a bad cook? Oh, right, the games. This wasn't the game though was it? You were ACTUALLY here! You still couldn't really wrap your mind around how this had all happened and you hadn't seen Sans yet.

"Is your brother awake?" 

"DOUBTFUL, HE'S SUCH A LAZYBONES!" 

"I'll go see if I can't wake him up." You left the empty plate with him as you go in search of the other skeleton. You knew he was smart, but you didn't know if he was really as lazy as everyone said. You find his door and knock. No answer. 

"Sans?" You wait a moment. Still no answer. Was he even in there? You try the handle and are surprised to find that it's unlocked. Huh? Wasn't it always locked in the game? You let the door swing open slightly, but all you see is darkness beyond. This was... odd. You stepped forward and as you did you felt that tugging sensation as before. You try to yell, to get Papyrus' attention or Sans' but your yelp is cut short as you land face first into a pile of snow. You scramble up with a gasp. Now you're wet AND cold. Great. Just great. You look around even as you begin to shiver. You weren't dressed for this sort of weather exactly. 

 

"you look  _chilled_ to the bone." You look around at the voice, it sounded familiar but not. You spot what looks like Papyrus in an orange hoodie, it looked dulled from age and almost looked like it might be turning brown actually. He had what looked like a cigarette in his mouth. Smoke drifting around, you didn't mind people who smoked but being too close to it made you cough so you decided it was best to keep your distance. You knew who he was. You'd seen the fanfiction and he was a LOT taller than you had anticipated, or would be if he didn't slouch so much anyway. You gave him a faint smile at the joke.

"Snow way I'm dressed for this weather." You reply back after a moment, earning a chuckle.

"not bad kid." 

"Any way that we can get to someplace warmer before I become a human cicle?"  He seemed to consider this.

"I promise I'll explain everything once we get there and you can even see my soul too." He seemed startled at this.

"What? It was how I proved things before."  He recovered after a moment.

"it's just that, somethin' like that is considered pretty risky and intimate kiddo." 

"It was the only way to prove I wasn't lying and I'm pretty sure you can tell if I'm lying." He seemed a little suspicious about that but nodded a little. 

"alright, let's go someplace warm then." He held out a hand and you took it in yours, he seemed to be surprised you trusted him or was that your imagination?

"i know a shortcut." Before you knew it you were standing in a living room that was familiar but backwards to the one you were certain you'd been in less than five minutes ago.

"you can relax, my bro won't be home yet." You sit down on the couch, the first thing that comes to mind as you envision what his brother is like comes out of your mouth and you're nearly mortified.

"Is he really as cute as I'm thinking?"


	7. Underswap Pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're in Underswap, but there's something up with your soul now; it's changed!

There was a moment of shock on his features before being replaced by an easy grin and you can barely contain your excitement as you realize he's pulled out a worn wallet from his jacket and flips it open to show you baby pictures! Who knew monsters even had cameras?! Then you realize something, these photos, while well worn and kept, are.... pretty old. They're Polaroids! A type of instant photo camera that had gone out of style forever ago! Yet apparently monsters had some how found them... and this Papyrus had taken full advantage of it too by the looks of things. He had several cute photos of Sans in a onesie, with toys, and also with various other things. The last photo, you realized, had what looked like a possible teen version of the skeleton proudly sporting a baby blue bandanna... So the photos you'd seen on Deviant Art weren't entirely wrong... he DID have a bright blue bandanna that was almost too large on him! You weren't exactly the type to just fangirl over anything but stars was he cute! Then a thought occurred to you, would they accept the names fans had given them to tell them apart from the originals? It was something you weren't so sure about suddenly, what if this Sans wasn't entirely as fans thought he was? Sure, Papyrus from the original game was a cinnamon roll and this Sans was supposed to be too.... but was he really? What about this Papyrus? He seemed, for the moment, exactly like the Sans you had just left, but at the same time you didn't know much about him except what you remembered from various comics but.... most of that wasn't even from the original creator who had been bullied so much that they had given up the idea instead of continuing.... there was so little really known about the characters because of this. How much was true? You bit your lip in thought.

"somethin' the matter?" 

"No, not exactly, other than the cold anyway." 

"PAPYRUS!" You nearly jumped out of your skin as you realized that the voice calling to you so boisterously, yet with a familiar ring could only be one person.... or monster in this case. You began having doubts. Sure you'd known everything there was to know about the characters of Undertale, but their counterparts? Especially now that you knew without a shadow of a doubt you were in Swaptale. Where else would you be after all? Still, with so little material to work with you knew that maybe things weren't exactly the way others thought they should be or might be. While you trusted Sans and this Papyrus, you weren't sure just how far you really could now that you had a moment to really think about it. Sans had been willing to help, but would this version of Papyrus? He had seemed to act in a rather similar manner that Sans had but he didn't even have the full story yet.

"I SINCERELY HOPE YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING ON THE JO-" He cut off, stopping several feet away from the both of you. The adorable ball of fluff you had seen in only fan art works was standing only several feet away but as you began to recall all the things that you had read you realized you weren't sure if you should be running over to hug him or quaking in fright. Unlike Papyrus from Undertale, it was clear that the Sans before you was not the innocent monster you had been hoping to see. He wasn't - thank goodness - murderberry in any means. He looked innocent enough in his "battle body" but the gray shirt beneath wasn't quite so clean and there was evidence of sewn patches here and there along the thing. You weren't sure if that was evidence of the lack of material in the Underground or of the fights you were certain that he had gotten into. 

"what's the matter kiddo? ya look a little  _rattled._ " Great. Stretch - because that's what he was to you - had picked up on your nervous uncertainty. 

"OF COURSE SHE IS! WHAT HUMAN WOULDN'T BE UNNERVED BY THE MAGNIFICENT SANS!" You weren't sure that wasn't just the bravado talking. Something in the way he moved and held himself told you that you should be cautious. He didn't exude the same friendliness that you remembered from Papyrus. 

"kid?" Right. This wasn't a game. Your lack of a response would tend to make them wonder if you were even paying attention. You sneeze.

"S-sorry, this cold is making it hard to think." It was the best you could come up with, after all you weren't about to admit that you had a strange sort of chill go through you because of Blue. Especially not with Stretch standing there, that just didn't seem right after how much you had fawned over the pictures of the doting, proud brother. 

"guess you are  _chilled to the bone._ " 

"PAPYRUS! THIS IS NO TIME TO MAKE JOKES! LET US GET HER SOMEPLACE WARM! AND QUICKLY!" Stretch blinked, looking at his brother. Yes, you weren't going to think of them as Sans and Papyrus because that would just get too confusing. 

"NORMALLY I DO NOT LIKE SUCH THINGS, BUT I BELIEVE THIS CALLS FOR AN EXCEPTION! WE CANNOT HAVE THE HUMAN SICK!" Sick? Ho boy, that hadn't even crossed your mind! Then again, you weren't exactly dressed for this sort of weather, the jeans would only keep you so warm and you'd been in a T-shirt this entire time; no socks either, but then again you HAD been at your house in the beginning and you'd been settling down to go to bed soon. Why would you have been dressed for a winter outing? You were just beginning to realize just how cold you were when you felt the hands on your shoulders and the familiar teleportation of the shortcut but you'd been so focused on rubbing your hands that you actually hadn't caught WHO had done it. The sudden warmth was welcome and when you glanced up you found yourself face-to-face with Blue who was grinning. 

"DON'T WORRY HUMAN! I HAVE JUST THE THING TO HELP WARM YOU UP!" He then dashed off the kitchen and you felt that the other side of you was slightly warmer. Was it possible for monsters to produce heat? The hoodie that Stretch was wearing seemed to be fairly warm. 

" _snow_ wonder you're cold. being out in that weather with so little on?" 

"Not like I planned that." 

"suppose not." Blue came back in with a warm mug of coco.

"Thanks." He smiled and then it faltered a little.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE WITHOUT PROPER CLOTHING?" 

"That's a bit of a story." The three of you sat on the couch and you slowly began to explain to them both how you had been in your house when you'd stumbled in the dark and into Undertale. You then had to explain that you'd met skeletons like them, but not and that itself had turned into a rather lengthy explanation as Blue had seemed rather shocked to learn of a skeleton like him but who acted and dressed like his brother, but who liked ketchup instead of honey and didn't smoke. You then explained how there was something wrong with your soul and the two seemed to gawk when you allowed Stretch to pull it out. Although it wasn't what you had expected.

 

"Well... it wasn't like THAT before." You stare, instead of the empty sort of soul that you had seen before you found that there was a tiny bit of blue that seemed to be sitting at the bottom and, at the same time, occasionally seemed to run along the outline. 

"BROTHER, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS?" Blue seemed both concerned and astounded.

"can't say i have, but one thing is for sure, she's not lying." 

"There's one more thing that I haven't told you about yet." This seemed to catch their attention.

"While I was there in Undertale, Frisk was having trouble getting past the bridge in Hotland due to some sort of... interference." 

"INTERFERENCE?" 

"Yeah, I don't really know how to explain it really. It was like some sort of glitch or something, like what you might see in a video game. They kept dying to Undyne.... it wasn't pretty to see." Blue grimaced.

"Thing is, has something like that happened to you guys?" 

"nah, not that i know of." 

"Speaking of, where is Chara now?" Stretch shrugged.

"i haven't seen 'em since they passed the second puzzle." You look at Blue who shakes his head.

"NEITHER HAVE I! DO YOU THINK THEY HAVE GOTTEN LOST?" 

"No, I don't think so."

"bro, why don't you make her some of your famous tacos?"

"GOOD IDEA!" Blue raced out of the room. Figures, this one hadn't come clean with his brother either. What was it with the elder ones withholding information like that? 

"He doesn't know, does he?" The question seemed to catch Stretch off guard.

"about what?" He seemed suddenly suspicious.

"The resets." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nasal cavity.

"no. i'd like to keep it that way." You weren't sure if you were frustrated by that or thought it was sweet that he would protect his brother. Maybe a bit of both? You shake away the thoughts. That wasn't what was important right now.

"Have there been any?" 

"a few, but then they stopped recently."

"What if they're stuck? Like Frisk was?" The look he gave you then told you all you needed to know even before he spoke the words.

"so? no skin off my nose." 


	8. Underswap Pt 2

What? Okay, you got it that there was likely no way that he liked the kid anymore than Sans had, but to not care at all?! You frown a little. This just didn't seem right, after all, Sans might have been lazy but he at least had cared about the kid; cared what they did.

"Okay, what's going on and don't try and bs your way out of this." He sat up, meeting your gaze, sockets narrowing.... wait, they could do that? You shoved that aside, that wasn't important. 

"excuse me?" 

"Let's not play games here. Even Sans cared at least a little bit about what Frisk did but you don't seem to care at all about Chara. So what's going on." 

"you seem to know so much about us, why don't you tell me sport?" Great. So that meant resets... did that mean genocide though?

"What happened to give a person a second chance? That everyone can be good if they just try?" It looks like you've struck a nerve there as he leans back again. 

"just how many chances do you think someone should give a person?" You surprise yourself and him.

"As many as it takes." He frowns a little.

"Look, I know this can't be anything short of easy. Living the same things day in and day out, but if you just give up on them then nothing will ever change. You'll still be stuck here doing the same thing over and over and over again. You can't give up trying just because you've failed before. As long as you have the will to make something change, then it can be done." He seemed to mull over your words.

"You made the same promise Sans did. Are you going to break that promise simply because you can't see a solution?" He shrugged. You had a feeling you weren't going to get any help from him without dragging him around. Well, alright, if that was what it took to get you out of here and get you back to where you needed to be... so be it. You picked him up; he was a LOT lighter than you were expecting. It was like walking around with a pillow almost.

"whoa! what the?!"

"You're coming with me, and somehow I didn't think you would walk on your own two feet." You're out the door before he can protest, still too surprised by your actions as you head out into the cold again. You still didn't have shoes or anything but you weren't going to let that stop you as you plunged through the cold, you know all of the puzzles in Snowdin and you knew how to get past them. Surely the kid could do it. 

 

 

 

 

"kiddo, really, is this necessary?" 

"Yes." There was no way you were just going to leave the skeleton on the couch just because he was being stubborn. You were bound and determined that you were going to show him that just because things hadn't worked out before that it didn't mean that they wouldn't. As you plugged along, going past the various puzzles you suddenly realized something, it was cold out. The child was wearing even less protective clothes than you were. At least you had a pair of jeans on. Would they be even colder than you? The thought of the child possibly catching a cold or worse made you hurry your pace even more than before. Maybe this was why the loads had stopped. You pass the long bridge, which was the fourth puzzle... which no one ever had to do. Ignoring the stuff overhead and below as you make your way past a rather confused Dogemy and Dogressa who looked to be starting their patrol and weren't far from Snowdin... They'd said they hadn't seen the child since the second puzzle. You wracked your brain on the puzzles; the first had been the electric maze, the second, technically, was a minor spike puzzle.... the third, but the second puzzle with the brothers was the paper, the next puzzle was.... wait... the next puzzle was supposed to be with Blue wasn't it? The next major puzzle anyway. The step puzzle that was supposed to be in the shape of a skull but that froze... Blue had said he hasn't seen the child since the second puzzle... How had the child not made it to Blue? You hop over various puzzles until you get to the frozen puzzle, having had to hop over spikes since the trigger to getting them down was on the  **other** side... at least as far as you knew. How did Blue check these traps? Did he vault over them like you had? Of course the traps were too high for a child to jump over safely but you had always done well in jumping over things. You had to admit though you hadn't done it in a while and you were a little winded now. You shook your questions aside, you could always ask later.

 

"you okay? you sure you wanna go through with this?" 

"I am  **not** leaving a child out in the cold!" Gritting your teeth you continue to push forward. You don't see any other monsters, surprisingly. You can't remember the last time that you have pushed yourself this much. Work was grueling enough usually, but then again you really hadn't had a solid reason to do much of anything. You hadn't had any motivation to keep up with exercise and such when you preferred to play video games or read or write fanfic stories or even draw instead of going out and doing some physical activity. You were, as they said in the 90s, a couch potato. Now you were wishing you weren't, but there wasn't much you could do about that now. You decided that when you got back home you were going to do something about that... Maybe you could get some motivation or something from Blue before this was all over. You walked around the frozen puzzle, it wasn't solved but that was fine. You knew where the solution was but you left it be. Where was the kid? He had said the loads had started and stopped after a little while.... but okay you weren't sure but you felt like they should have gone through the two dogs before reaching the frozen puzzle... obviously Blue had given up waiting on them after so much time had passed... there wasn't THAT much room between the two dogs and the frozen puzzle. You frown. Something must have happened, but what? You weren't paying any attention as the two dogs passed you. 

"you plan on standing here all day?" You realized then that you had stopped walking. 

"Well, I was just thinking... there isn't a lot of ground to cover between your brother's puzzle back there and where the two dog guards are... so... I think we just have to wait here." You sat down on the other side of a spike puzzle. It was one of the more simple ones to solve. So, of course, you weren't too surprised when you saw the dog guards come back several minutes later. They solved the puzzle and the spikes lowered.

"I never would have thought that such a thing was possible!" One of them said, you couldn't tell them apart at this distance.

"I know! Dogs petting other dogs! It's just incredible! We must tell the others!" The second said. You smiled a little, you remembered that fight. It had been tough to dodge those huge axes... not having quick enough reflexes and not knowing where to go in the battlefield in the game meant a surefire hit and boy did it hurt. Those two were no pushovers that was for sure. 

"what exactly are you waiting for?" 

"For the child. They have to come this way. It's a simple puzzle, anyone can solve it." You replied automatically even as the spikes went back up as the puzzle seemed to be on a timer or something and had just reset itself. This was something the games hadn't shown you but it did make sense. After all, there had to be some sense in a world where the game characters didn't just disappear because they walked out of sight. Sure that was how they were programmed just like Sans could seem to teleport because of how he was programed. It seemed, however, that wasn't just a program set up. He really could, which had been a very hand assumption on your part, you realize. There was no part of the game that said he could. As you sat there, waiting, your mind began to wander a bit. You knew each of the pairs of brothers were close... if on different levels. How close though? Was it possible they.... wait, no. Bad. You chastise yourself. Just because people make a fanfiction about it didn't make it true. In fact, that made it less likely to be true.  _I really should know better than to start thinking things like that; plus I don't think he'd like it if he knew about the fanfics that made his innocent little brother not so innocent._ You shifted your gaze from the skeleton in your arms. There were a lot of those types of stories floating about but you didn't want to think that any of them could be true. Maybe some were but you weren't about to even entertain the idea of asking because that was personal, not to mention very much none of your business.

 

You almost sigh, your butt was getting cold. Very cold. Well, you had sat down in snow. It was practically everywhere...  How long was the child going to take? Oh wait, there they were. It was about time really. You watched Chara, they seem on high alert as if they were expecting something.

"This is odd." You mutter.

"yeah." You're surprised he agreed, but then again he should know all of the traps right? It wasn't unthinkable that he would know as much about all of these traps as his brother did and they were made by his brother. The moment Chara got close to the switches however you notice movement. There's a cry of alarm from the child as they leap back as suddenly a whole horde of monsters just seemed to appear. Several Snowdrakes and some Jerrys and Ice Caps all suddenly leap out of the snow like they were there all along; moving forward to attack, like a horde of zombies from some horror game. You noticed that the monsters weren't their natural colors though they were almost black and white... no, that wasn't right. It was called grayscale, where colors had such heavy tones of black in them that they were pretty much a faded sort of version of the color they were meant to be like they were... corrupted. 

"Sorry about this!" You say as you dump the skeleton in your arms into the snow.

"talk about the cold shoulder...." You ignored his pun as you scrambled to your feet and vaulted over the spikes. The child was running and the horde of monsters weren't far behind. You weren't exactly sure what you were going to do.

"Leave them alone!" You shout, but they only seem to ignore you; like you weren't there. You shoved some of them out of the way as you sprinted to reach the child who was trying to dodge all of the attacks but didn't seem to be able to. There were just too many and suddenly you were back in the house again. You hadn't seen what had happened exactly. You could guess though. You look over at your companion who frowns a little.

"well, that was snow what was supposed to happen." 

"You're telling me! No wonder you haven't seen them! The nearest save point isn't anywhere near close to that..." You trail off. He just nods in agreement.

"I need your help." 

"seriously?" 

"Yes, I can't just do this on my own! You saw what happened. We have to do something. Those weren't ordinary monsters, not by a long shot." He seems to sigh as he nods. There was no doubt that those monsters weren't ordinary. Even someone who didn't know what a video game was or what was supposed to happen could tell that something wasn't right with those monsters.

"what do you think we can do about it? it's not like they were there when we got there." That was true, it had to be a glitch. Just like the moving stuff in Undertale.

"We have to do something to let them get by....  maybe we can set off the trap to let them by?" 

"hmmm." You had a feeling he wasn't going to just help readily. Seriously, it wasn't like he had to put forth a lot of effort, why was he being so dang stubborn about this?! 


End file.
